Dolgeville native’s son selected as Cannes finalist

Former Dolgeville resident Angelo Izzo is a third generation who graduated from Dolgeville Central School in 1961.

After graduating Izzo moved to the San Francisco Bay area and has lived there for 36 years with his wife, Donna Curley-Izzo, of Utica, 29-year old son Gianni Izzo and 28-year old son Joey Izzo, who was born in Burlingame, Calif., and resides in the lower Haight district of San Francisco.

Former Dolgeville resident Angelo Izzo is a third generation who graduated from Dolgeville Central School in 1961.

After graduating Izzo moved to the San Francisco Bay area and has lived there for 36 years with his wife, Donna Curley-Izzo, of Utica, 29-year old son Gianni Izzo and 28-year old son Joey Izzo, who was born in Burlingame, Calif., and resides in the lower Haight district of San Francisco.

Recently Joey Izzo received word from France his master of fine arts thesis film, an 18-minute short, was selected as a

finalist in the competition for a Cinefondation Prize at the Cannes International Film Festival from May 15th to May 26th in Cannes, France.

The film, “Stepsister,” is about a stepsister living in San Francisco having to meet her stepbrother’s fiancée from New York City visiting San Francisco. In the story, the stepsister attempts to do everything possible to destroy the relationship between the stepbrother and his fiancée to retain her relationship with her stepbrother.

Joey presented his first film, “Bare Room,” at the New York Film Festival in 2011 in conjunction with avant-garde composer John Zorn as a part of Zorn’s “Film in 15 Scenes” collection.

He is a 2012 graduate of the department of cinema’s master of fine arts program at San Francisco State University, and holds an undergraduate degree from the same university.

Angelo Izzo said his son’s interest in film began as an elementary student.

“At a young age I started taking him to movie stores every weekend and after watching movies we would have discussions about them,” he said. “Joey grew up watching many films attempting to understand why and how things were made. The technique of the whole film process is fascinating to him. He’s always been interested in film and it’s stayed with him and he has developed a real skill for it.”

Angelo said his son is humbled by his success. “Making movies is somewhat a very personal quest, and often a lonely one taking much personal time in scripting, editing and production. Then to have your film rewarded by winning the publics attention and accolades for their quality is somewhat humbling,” he said. “In the beginning only a very few people actually view your movie before its public presentation. Joey is certainly proud of his achievements, but in the same time humbled by them, too.”

As parents, Angelo and Donna Izzo very proud of their son’s achievements.

“Joey’s mother is a teacher and as am I. As teachers we’ve always told him to pay attention to his heart and sole and follow what he wanted to do in life,” said Angelo.

Angelo Izzo’s oldest son, Gianni, is also a graduate of San Francisco State University with a degree in anthropology. He received his masters in Arabic and Middle Eastern studies from the American University of Beirut in January. He lives and works in TV media in Beirut, Lebanon, at this time.